This talk aims to be a very accessible introduction to one of the most popular modern functional programming languages: Scala. Even those who have never come into contact with functional programming before should find real benefits within - particularly those who work with Java. Scala is a popular programming language which attempts to combine features from both object-oriented and functional programming. As Scala compiles to JVM bytecode, it is compatible with existing codebases written in other JVM languages, such as Java.

This talk will demonstrate some beneficial features of Scala, focusing on those which lend themselves to a functional style of program construction. These features include pattern matching, algebraic datatypes, and Scala's focus on immutable data.